Lady Luck has PMS

Or maybe Karma took a look at our balance sheet and decided things were just a leeeeeeeeeetle too good in our house.

This past week was a bit of a challenge.

First, DH was on a business trip. One that for some reason, I completely approved even though DH said he would have no trouble staying home if I wanted him to. But when he called from work a couple of weeks ago to get my consent, my first thought was: My Mom and I can totally handle it, it's not like DH is home much during the week anyway. My second thought: What a perfect opportunity to bargain for something *I* want! So I told DH he could absolutely go on his business trip, if I could finally order the Learning Tower for Bean that I've wanted for a year now. My Mom and I could definitely handle the household without him if Bean could "help" make dinner on this lovely contraption (his alternative behavior during meal prep: ceaseless whining). Sure, it's obscenely overpriced -- but what are we going to do, build one of our own? Not in this house! And using a chair instead, puhleaze. I'd prefer that he not fall off and crack his head open. This is really an investment in our children's physical health and safety.


What I neglected to consider when responding to DH's travel request were the nights. Alone. By myself. With twins. I'm sure people do it all the time, I don't get any sort of medal for it. But it's difficult, and it sucks. And my bad luck, the little guy (I'll probably call him Peanut on the blog, as soon as I can come up with a nickname for my other guy -- and if you have any suggestions for Twin A, who is bigger, sweet, and smiley, I'd love to hear them) became really congested the same night DH left. He could only sleep upright in my arms, which meant I had to be upright, which meant my already-limited amount of rest was further decimated. *yawn* Sleep deprivation on top of sleep deprivation is NOT a good thing.

But the worst news of the week came regarding my parents' house-selling/house-buying situation. On Thursday, they found out that after difficult negotiations, they were outbid for the home here in Seattle that they wanted. On Friday, they heard from the potential buyers of their Michigan place that they were backing out of the deal. Apparently the wife decided she wanted new construction, and they used a lame excuse from the inspection to pull out and take their deposit with them. This is turning out to be costly for my parents, monetarily and otherwise. We know that everything will work out eventually, but it's extremely frustrating and stressful in the meantime.

But it hasn't all been all potholes and speed bumps:

- My supply of breastmilk has consistently been satisfying both twins. We haven't supplemented in almost two weeks. To celebrate our success, I ordered another desperately needed nursing bra. (To new nursing moms, I highly recommend Victoria's Secret bras. You can only get them online, but I believe you can return them to the store if you don't like them. But that won't happen because they rock. If you plan on nursing a while, they are entirely worth the cost.)

- DH's foot is healed and he's off the air cast. His night diapering duties have resumed. His doc told him he should start wearing super supportive shoes to prevent recurrence, so we had to go to an orthopedic shoe store. We were the only customers not members of AARP, but they did carry some cool sandals. DH got a pair, and I liked them so much I got the girl version. We are currently scouring our Manual of the Pacific Northwest for a loophole to the rule that living here requires us to wear socks with them.

- DH and I went on our first date since having the twins. We tried an Italian place in Federal Way, it was quite good. My Mom was home with Bean (who was napping) and we took the twins with us. They fell asleep on the way there, so we could put their car seats under our table at the restaurant and pretend it was just us. Of course we talked about kids 95% of the time, but still, we'll take it.

Last but not least, some pics.

Bean enjoyed some quality bonding time with Bumpa when he was in town. (That book is awesome, by the way.)

Bean is ready for his next Mariners game with his new baseball cap, glove, and ball.

DH is counting the days until this can be a real mower on the real lawn. (Current count = 4,016 days)

Twin A is captivated as we explain the new health care bill.

There's nothing sweeter than a sleeping baby. Except two sleeping babies. (I admit that took me five good minutes of staring before venturing a guess that it's Peanut on the left and Twin A on the right in the first picture.)*

*Dang it!! Wrong again... DH made a case for Twin A on the left, and on even closer review he's right. What would happen if I actually had identical twins, I'd probably change their identities regularly.